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IRMO= 135111 . ID 155 844 CS 004 .113 ,* , , .!- AUTHOR, *' Abrahamsoi; Richard P. TITLE -They-fro Reading the Serifs Books So Lets: Use Thes;', or, Who Is Sham Cassidy? ------PUB BAIR, .Bay 78 I ROTE 17p.; Raper preheated at the innuel Meeting of thir International Reading,AssOciation 123rd; Mount**,
9 - Texas, Ray,1 -5, 1978) I -RDRS PRICE 'BF-10.83 HC -&1.67 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Adolescent Literature; *EnglishInstructibig- *Learning Activities;Litits=i-tioi-sap--*Litarary N\ Perspective; Literatuie,App ion; *Reading IntereSts; Reading Bateriall; reational Bending;
Senior Sigh Schools; Not atioe , IDENTIFIERS Series Books ;.
ABSTRACT 4 Concerned with the need to=atimulate readiag Flamers fotolder adolescents, this documentcutlinee a high school reading uiit that capitalises on the perennial popuIirity of sesits bccits .such as Nancy Drpw, the Hardy Boys, and Tom Swift. Suggested' activities include having students reflect cn thoir.personal reading and write a fictional sketch about a favorite author; research a, : 'series author to discover the multi-asthoi-ttprcach of the series books; compare older versions. with newer revised books tc uncover sexiia, rapism, and stereotypes; -and stilted dialogue, one -, dimensional characters, and formula writing. The study of the series bookcan be extended to include the serial dine novels cfthi 1800s with their heavy moralising, poor characterisation,and--ritunted dialogue, ore historical approach to, the authorlioratio-Alger and his rags-to-riches novels, set in the later 1800e. (HI)
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THE 'RE READING THE SERIES BOOKS 50LT'S USE. THEM; OR, WHO IS SHAUN CASSIDY?
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"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS Alor. Richard F. Abrahamson MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Department of Curriculum and Instruction Richard F. College of Education Abrahamson Univers4ty of Houston TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES f Houston, Texas ,77004 INFORMATION SEWER (ERIC) AND USERS OF THE ERIC SYSTEM "
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A pier ,presented at the IRA 1978Convention in -r Houston, Texas. 'This 'paper was presentedas part of a symposium entitled "Adolescenetiterature from Tom Swift to I' Am the Cheese.".
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. .. 't , - ?"'" I r THEY'RE READING THE SERIES BOOKS SO LET'S USE THEM:* OR, WHO IS SHAUN CASSIDY? -
sh RecentlyI was in Kansas-Gity for a reading- convention. I had a chance''
to =listen to such peoPlas Bill Martin, Jr.,-KennethGpodman, Donald DurreW,
BiT1 Durr, Co Fay, Ed Fry, Jerry Weiss and the toppingonthiscake of fine_
speakers was poet/author/entertainer Maya Angelou. It was, to say the least,_
an exciting time andia stimulating experience. _ , ...... On the last day ,of ,the convention, I went to breakfastwithjafriend rotmine . , .. . on the faculty at the University of Missouri- Kansas City. Whenshe let me off
, , k. I back at my hotel, the convention centerwas simply jammed with. thousands of
cars and people. 414 Lines of people circled both large conventioncenters.
Obviously, .1 decided, I must have missed the final .readingconvention highlight.
Maya Angelou had_ attracted perhapstwo.thousandpeople anO,Bill Martin- about'
the-Same, Mit there were tens of thousands of peoplehere now and many were
elementary school and junior high school students with their parents. Was it
Stie Hinton-or Richard Peck I wondered? Was someone about to annovnce a new
/ readability forma? Was Isuppose to be speaking'and no one had mentioned it
,to me?
I enteredthisjlobbyof my hotel and saw,Maya Angelou and several of theother
.major speakers get out of the elevator. Is this what eVeryone had en waiting
for? No'one ern noticed these convention speakersas they quietly -stood in /-* .liqe to pay their hotel bills. I couldn't stand-it any more so I turned to a
. pafticularly intense junior high school student who:wasleading her mother .to-,
. wards the great throng of people. I directed, my question to the girl. "Excuse
me: ;What's going ori?" I stammereti. She looked 'directly throw* me towards
3 1 -a 6kRIES BOOKS/2.'
the auditorium apb screamed. . ---' 17-
. "He's in there! Ofil,"Gbd, he's. in there!" People were lbIcing at us and I
turned away in embarassment. But then I thought, if indeed this is the.second
coming, do I want to be' caught-turning away in embarassment?fly young friend
was now crying so I turned to {per mother.Luckily she do pity onnbcignorance,
"Don'tyou know?* she said with a mixture f-dis4ust and pity. "Shaur,
. , Cassidy's jnside. I stood scratching my he d,as i if she was'pulled by,her
crazed, and crying daughter. %
NOW,I can't imagine thdt there are those' ofyou who work with youngsters. who \ . have po become acquainted with th, teenage phedbmenon ofShaun Cassidy but if
/---, . his name doesn't ring abellbe's the son ot,the late actor Jack-Cassidy and
, .; thebroiNer of anotherteenage'superstar, David CasSidy. 4%' % At this point sane of you may. well ask, what Wis to do with Tom "Shrift, -- the series books, and adoeescent'reading? $i!ly, Shaun Cassidywa's catapulted
to fame with his starring roe as one of the Har s in the new TV series
seen on nights, "The Adventures ofliancy Drew and theHardy Boys."
Those of us concerned with what youngsters enjoy reading now that Nancy ,
Drew 'and Tom Swift and Cherry Ades and Frank and ,Toe Hardy havevery often .been
..--, . . an iTgortant part in the creation of'"lifetfme".readers. What is somewhat . . , . , worrisome tome is that all too many teachers recall with obvious enjoymeht their . , experiences with these books and yet do mOt allow theirown studerits-to read
the books because they lack some/hing called "literary merit."'
% In thinking back on my own reading life, I could wish nothing better fora
youngster in myhome or classroom than the intense.pleasure I eiPerienced-inmy
. own reading of the series books in 'a time in my reading life that/has, cometo . . , . . .----_--- -e-- .- -.., _ t - 1 be known as the Unconscioui-4fight stage, reading.
I was a devious reader and a conniving child. In the Newt England town.
. where Igreit up, the- local Woolworth's storehad an entire corner devoted to
the series books. Wednesdays after school meant an afternobq visit to Woolworth's 4 A 4 * SERIES BOOKS/3
withra friend. It war fun goipg alone because part of_the'delightwas proudly
lettivg your best frtria know-that you had-read volumes -17 Ofthe Tom Swift
series while he had toclerssto only readi'0,1.:7. But the most important part
of Wednesday for me Was looking at thecover and reading the last page in the .. 'next book in the seties. In today's reading jargon, this was perhapsmy pre-
reading exerciseWithout-theworkbook pages:
_ rsday nights my fathergot.paid andour ritual was-to go downtown, cash 0 ck, pay somybillsi and finally I'd lead_him tb Woolworth's.,Our game was
aj,s the same. "There's a really good bookover here, Dad.". A "Haven't you read all of ose yet?" he'd say.
"No, I've got 18 more to go!" .This was always Saidwii excess exuberance
9 - -?f t' ant a,tonSciousattenvit o open u' eyeswide'Cidnot blink. Was there evey, a- ,
father who,couid res.4 such intellectual curiosity 1na ari?,
sad{. "Just remember, young man, money doesn't grow on
trees.' I heard_tHat message of money and trees through'every book in the Tom .
Swift series.
. Once we got home, the book had to'behidden, especarly frommy mother who . case home fromher bwn Sob about 9 p.m. You see, she cAhed,her pay check on,
Friday nights and if she knew4hat my father had boughta book for mean
Thursday night, I'd never get her to buy me oneon Friday. We had our own Friday
night ritual similar to the one I went through 'on Thursday. The' only diff rehce
was that Ihad her buy me a mystery series that chronicled the adventOres of
one Tom Quest. It's trueI managed two series at one time. Saturdays I &pent"
on the tell tale'scar adventures of Tom Quest And Sundays were for Tom Swift.
It never dawned on that when I placed my two newly read books on the'shelf
next to the others th t.my parents Might be wise enough tosee my collection
.growing by two books per Week instead qf one.
I loved that time in my reading life and while I'm not terribly'Proud of
conning my pirents (if indeed that's what I did), Iam prgud-that I conned them r
. SERIES 11001($14...
. - `out of money for. books hot for hula hoops, Cigarettes:and ` -S.. , Davy Crockett 4; . .di coonskin hatst, A literary . . c ic I - , -recently best describeshcmLI
------felt about'this Unconscious .- Delight stage when shesays of her own series book , reading that ifwallikelitIiig down in a comfOrtable chairWitica bag-of hard , . candy and gettiAg -?"-/. up three years,later. .. - . - /' .. . Mi pi-imary . 5-/ point in rel.ating thisstory is to get you to remember the - ,
. Unconscious Delight periodin your . ading life.. . Secondly, to realize tha,- ... t_ . . as much as some teachers and some librarianscondemmithese bodks:youngsters
still read them withenjoyment and total abandon. And mpf third point inrelating my own experience with the . series books is to bringus back to Shaun Cassidy. For-a long time, those of us dealing with adolescentreaders haVe'reatized
' the dffects of media on-what teenagers read. Quite simply, when a move suchas
M.A.S.R. comes;to town, paperbacksales of that'book go up. _ One need only .looks at Joanna McKenzfe's "A Survey.of Leisure Time Reading of.Adolescents" foundin
the Apri1.1976 Arizona English Bulletinto note the importance of the media On: c adolescent reading interests. Of the. 50 most popular books ingrades 7=112, Vie
top title is the Excorcist. Number 2 is Go Ask 'Alice. Number 4 is Sybil. N . .. ,--- . . 541s Brian's Song. Number 6 is The Godfather. Number 7 is Sunsh4ne. A r 10 . is Lisi Bright and Dark, In-fact, of the top 50 books, 36 ofthe favored books
are also filmsseen in movie houses or on television.
Keepthg'thjs media influencein mind, I trust youwillnot be surprised when I tell you that because: of Shaun Cassidy and the TV shoo, Nancy -Drew. andthe
Mardy_BOys eries ks are selling more thanever and the reading audience has ..--- been extended both pward into the high school and downwardinto grades two and
three. If.yoo haven't noticed, checlrYourlocal_bookstore._ Displays of the seri"s
books are highlighted everywhere. In fact, while I'm not' sure what I wantyou, to eer make of this commenf, -there isnow available a series of Nancy Drew and Hardy
c Boys workbooks to go with the books themselves.
6 , , SERIES BODKS/5 : . , r) ... c 4. , ,'. , At this point I thought you_might be interested. insome facts and figures. By 1973, yearbefore the current Tlirseriii'hadcbme'on the 'ir, Just the first
book'in the Hardy Boys series, TheTowerTreasure, had soldsold morethan,1,500,000
I copi since it first appeared in 1926. in fact, ,in 1975 alone, still before the
.current TV show, 'Hardy Boys books sold 1,670,000copies in thatone year.- It is
estimated that before the new TVseries began,the total number of Nancy Drew
.books sold was around 60,,milliom copies.,Addto that.the popularity of the'TV .
series today and you judge' for yourself hOwmany of the books are being purchased,
berrowed, and read by American youdgsters.
- . Now then, if you will grant Me the fact:thatthese series books continue to
be read by students, Icatyeginto'tackle the secondhalf of my topic. That is,
how can we use these books and buildon this obvious reading interest in-ourj.
'classroom?The first suggestion I feel compelled tomake isthat if you teadh
in an elementary or junior high classroom wheremany of the students are actually
. Involved in the Unconscious Delight stage of readingthese books,Ahen let them
t read. Jim sure that part of my ldve-affair withthe series books centered around
the fun of reading, completing a book, andnever, being' asked to answer comOre- , bension ouestionsior fill in a book report' form that ended with-Ibtft all impoitant
question: Would you recommend this book to.a friend? *Certainly1 knew,other
people my age were reading the books but in that delicious solitude of tfie bad.
bedroom o9 Saturday afternoons, I sdcretly knew that Aly I couldbe asicleyeKt
as resourceful,, as courageous as Tom Swft, Tom Quest., or Frant and Joe/ Hardy,
I'm quite sure that if I Nad-to answer a 25 item fill ihthe blailk tes that began
with what color was the Hardy boys' father's hair, the total 'delight f reading . those books would have been lost.
The classroom uses I am suggesting are designed for-thoie adoleent readers i/: , i Wo have left the stage of avid series book reading. in most adoles ent reading.
interist inventO?tes, youngsters stop mentioning these :asat the end of Vie-
I seventh grade. 'Therefore, let's consider useor the s ies books the, high -- : A 7 1 SERIES BOOKSA,..
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, Anyone who,has ever attgmpted,aunit, on children's biterature in'the high
.,'schood knows that students enjoy looking back 4-it tout thee readjn childhood and
\,._ they-take sertouply the job ofctitically appraisingthese books.1 Perhaps the testrway.to begin with the books is to give,the oldeirAdolescentsa chance to reflect on theie reading life to date. Have they gone through what professionals . ) have labelled the UnConsciousDelight stage? If so, what was read? .0 . Where?When? _. . . 4 ' Wheri the series books are.meritioned,some questions about what elements particularly
attracted them to that set-of booksseem appropriate. This recollection can be
folio-evict with a one paragraph assignment an which the youngster'isto describe what
_he_thinkkthe.author of his one-time favoriteseries like. How old,is he or
she?, Where dyes the author five?'Any children? 'Speculateon hobbies, type of
house, type of pet. Most adolescents recall the golden namesof those revered
'authors: Carofyn Keene,'Laura LeeHope, Victor Appleton, and Frabklin W. Dixon.
. Once these fictional author .". profiles have been shared, tt;research'begins.
BoOks-like Something About theAuthor reveal to students that the names of Hope,
Cloon,,AppletOn, and Keene andso zany more are just that, names and not real
people. Quickly they discover that' those reverednames were)made up by someone
.aamed Edward Stratemeyer. They learn that thereneverjigsan l.W. Dixon or a
Laura tbooPope and that furthermoe, manyof the books.'in a serieswere written
by different people and that (bitteras the pill is to swallow) some male- writers . -
actually wrote some of'the Nancy Drewbooks.
Further research intp the life of EdwardStratemeyer reveals to students
something Stratemeyer called his Literary SyndiCate-4',Essentially Stratemeyer
found that he.had many ideas for seriesbooks but not enough time to write each
rt r- tidventure in its entirety. So he developed his fiction factory. 'Whenstudents
reach this point, teachersmay want to bring Leslie ficFarlaie's autobiography
, to their .attention.-Ghost of the Hardy fulys is,inpart, one man's recollection
of what is was like to work forthe Straleueyer.,Yndicate. Since it was 1926
8 SERIES BOOKs/c . - and',McFanlane-wad a struggling newspaper reporter, he decided to answer an ad in
the Editor and Publisher trade journal fin the(hopes of suppleWenting his meager
income. The simple ad read: . .
- EXPERIENCED FICTION WRITER WANTED TO WORK FROM . PUBLISHER'S OUTLINE )
,( %1A short time later, McFarlane received a, letter from Stratemeyer along with
an outline of a series book. It was McFarlane's job try kis hand at writing,
or rather filling in, some of the chapters in the book.This-is the outline ., McFarlane received.
CHAP. 1 - Dave and Bab cruising off Ldng Island in launch -Amos r4ns into fog - mention -first.and second volumes of series - engine fails ring reminds Bob of adventures on Volcano Island- mention other volumes - boys discuss Lem and Bart Hank0s, believed dead - sound of foghorn is heard -
ocean line0-loons out of fog - collision seems inevitable. . e CHAP: 2 - Ship veers off in nick of time - boys4hear warning bell and'see lighthouse - fttngine- almost pile P up on dangerots reef - nighty and darkness - searchlight sud- denly reveals mass, of wreckage deadahead - lauch crashes into wreckage and catches fire boys dive into'water - boat blows.up - Dave looks for Bob. (McFarlane, O. 22)
McFarlane filled in the simple chapter, passed the test, and wrote the first
of the Hardy BoYslbooks in 1926 under the Stratemeyer Syndicate name of
Franklin W. Dixon. .StratemerYer obvipUsly liked the work of this, new writer be-:'
cause after submitting the completed/manuscript of The Tower Treasure,
McFarlane received an. envelope with out lines far two more Hardy Boys books.The
envelope from Stratemeyer did not just contain outlines.
Thereiwas alio a letter,, a check and a document that looked, vaguely legal. 'The document, a contract, was very simple - it covered everything. It was a release form absolving me of any rightsto any volumes already written or any that might be written'in the future.for the Stratemeyer Syndicate. It covered the plots, the titles, the Roy Rockwood name, the name ofiranklin W, Dixon and the manustripts, forever and ever. *Furtherpore, it included a proinise that I wound never under any circumstances ditulge to anyone the fact that I had ever written a Dave Fearless book or a Hardy Boys book under any title or pen name to 'anyone.
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r- The peoalty for such a revelation wasn't spelled out..f. .L assumed that it had somethingto do with boiling in oil. I hadno hesitation in signingthis document. As a matter, of'fact,I had been doinga little thinking about the matter. The release saved me.the trouble Ofasking Stratemeyer to do meta similar favor. Nosworn affidavits- \\\ merely his signature toa prOmise that he would never tell . anyone I ever wrote books for him. (McFarlane, p. 72):
Both teachers-and students are interested to find out that thecheck AcFarlan
received for writing TheTowerTreasure (remembera book that hassold over
1;500,000 copies)was in the amount of 1100.
When students find that EdwardStratemeyer died in 1930, questions starfto
come up about whether or not the books continue to be written, and ifso, by , whom ? .YoOng researchers seem delighted when they uncover the factthat
StratemeYer's daughter, Harriet Adams took over afier her father' deathnd
continues to revise and author newNancy Drew Book?. Mrs. #dams is now 83. jeacheK may want to -point out to studentsan interesting artUle tOat considers 4,- both the inner workings of the Syndicate todayas well as the ch'anges that hfve taken place in the revised versions of the.books. The article_js Ed Zuckerman's
"The. Great Hardy Boys' Whoduhit" in the September. 9-0- 197-ttsueof Rolling 4one.
Zuckerman's article pointstO anther dirtbion classroomAeachers can,tatil' with the Series books. A comparison of the early NancyDrew bdoks and the' sewer
revised books brings to the-forefrontdiscussions about seiism, stereotypttg;
and racism. Here is just one example- froman early Nancy brew book.
1 Neill do the bestwe can for you, Miss,' came the not'too , comforting response. 'But right now we have onlyone Servant on hand - a colored woman:'
I 'Send her out this'afternoon,' Nancy ordered indespair 'I must have someone immediatefy.' .,
As she opened the door her heartsank within her'' Itwas - 'indeed the colored woman sent by the employment agency;but a more unlikely housekeeper Nancy hadnever seen. She was dirty and slovenly inappearance and had an unpleasantway orshuffling her feet when shewalked.
If there are those students whoare espitially intrigued with looking at the
' series books from a feminist viewpoint, teachers would be welladvised'to 0 ,SERIES40KS/9 , , reconime obbiMaskillThe Girl SldutillA Feminist Guide in which theauthor
attempts to`viess the influencethat Nancy Drew, Cherry Mei, andothers have had on molding mil lions.of female lives., - On a lighter"note, and yet while still.comparing,pld and neW-, versions of\t,e A. boas, you-mightwant to revive the 19501stphenomenori of. tomSwifies in yew classroom.Do you remember, "Pleasepass the sugar," Tom said sweetly? If you, --, need help jarring your memory of Toni Swifties, of,fhe*old series -books and get a copy of Alvin Schwa-rt4' Witcracks--. Jokes ,and Jests from Ame-ricani- .Folklore.You'll find-more examples the liliesof: .4' v. "I'll have four'hot, dogs,"-said Tom frankly. "1!11 have two sodas'," saidToni cdiestnly.' "Whoops! I've dropped the_eas," Tom cradked. tSchwarti, pp. 5445)) f Y.; There are many lessons to be'foundfn a, stedy of these seriesbooks. Lessons . * about stilted dialogue-,one `dimensional characteritation, aftcl formula writing, re , illp- ossibilities'. / 4 It doesn't take the average' hi*h school A student long to catdi the formula of an exciting opojngChapter with a link to a previous' vdiume and;
) -,* a final. chapter with promises of things to cOme, inta, future volume 'arid-rt.' between a series of riiipters that each end with-cllffhanger actiOn.proddirigthe reader,' . ti * into the next chapter to,findout what happened. 4.t. . . , 4 - ' While many high school students enjoy ., - the series 'book activities discussed e %.411 I...."----5-- so far, I,...fhink teachers.-arid --- students derive evenreater4enjoyment when thergo . s -,, I bac); furtheri. .n their'r'esearch. to the days of, the -dimegrovel.: I fjOitk wi.. '11 take . A- ..-. f final excursion with me, let's returnto lihe thrilling days of yesteryear 'and enter.the era of Nick Carter,. Deadwood Dick, . and RattlesnakeNedt WhatWe,begin . * .. ,,, to do iniihis strand of the 2..T,' . a Iti 1 series boounit.is\,tola beck and explor; the.hisiory
. A , 1 of the sefl es books, and thehistory of adalestin. t 1 i terature' itself:/ % ,-f 4 If . . In anattempt to' gtva. students;a feeling foi%yhat childrenwere supposed to ;is 4 P. I be reailiiig .in the early 1800\s, I usuallyask that theykread one of 'Jacob Abbott's . Roljo books.These 28,volumes chroniclr the, adventures'Of a New England farm. boy as he tours the world with his Uncle George.'Students are at once surprised . .. SERIES
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hosii."1 r the young. has changed and at the same time are appalled
. at \the d heavy-handed moralizing of much of this early literature and sq
, ' they serah,or more interesting things that adolescents might have read in the' 19th ntuFy.Thesliterature they find is. the literature of the dime novel tradition. _ fessionals-dealing With Adolescerits today know,that- actionin a book or. . .. s toris of.primary importance.The One was true for youngsters in the-1860's. ;Thefine ..aavel:began as an extension of the westwardmovement in the United states.
rs began to see the 4old mine" of adventures ,tied ,up with frontier life. In- *. 1860, the publishing house of ,Beadle and. Adams 'published a paperback novel for V adime.It was entitled"Ma taeska:TheOndian Wife of the White-Hunter. This set the stage for hundreds of action packed adventUre stories.The books filled a need for entertainment at a cheap price and while. the early dime noi/e1§* were of written, for, anadolescent market, it does not surprise adolescents to learn at this is What teenagers were reading at the time.when their_parcnts were
conscientiously buying them Fiollo books and Bible stories.Students soon 'see
the beginnings of the current.series books forinat when they discover, that the. i. bestsefling of the dime rovels:were'fton'tinued series that followed the adventurei _. . ., of one character from, one licik* to "Another. , 1 f. - High school "students who critically read the old dime novels have, little- a ''.. 0. A * , choice but to tome away from this reading experience with a greater appreciation '- k .. . " . for. the "skills of mole talented -writers.For the mostpart,;dinie novels were . # ,4 ,poorly written.Aeappreciation of mare subtle characterization can be gained. when compared with the sample dime novel charactehzatTon exemplified by this
, eieergt: V x * , Sits, flogers was a man,honeSt.and uprighVafter the fashion
of, he trphtiet'smn.He was brave, and had shot two or P. -1; three irliriwls, but he was notregarded.as quarrelsome. (Nye, R. A *. 4 Many -students have riot contider 'd-the di fferences, between well written and- poorly
written dialogue until they are tasked to compare some of the dime noveldialogue
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`with,converfations in other books; Students enjoysearching'through the dine
ooAkefor examples of dlalogue the like . of this: ., - or-=--
. Oa , 'Areyou hurt?' ... . . 'Whel , . 'You.' ' .. .'Me?' 0 ''Yes.' 'No.' 'Oh!' (Nye, p.
Critical high school- readers findthe ptiorldfOritten, inflated, dime novet
, ,dialogue a sourcsA.eonstanthUlion,4, o-- If it's draMatit-ivaaing ofprose you arel,
.looking for in your, classroom., you'llfind plentycof tongue-in-cheek Sir t Laurenc0 Oliviers ready to read Bandit BurlingSharp's dying conversation withScout Tracy: 'Who fired? Who killed me?' cried the dyingman. 'Oh, God, -p.- its too late!' 'Aye; too late,' icried HardTracy. 'I fired the bullet which foundyour life and I shallnever forget the 'deed!', 'Oh had I but one'minutemore!' groanedthe dying wretch, but he .did not. e , --- Not °fie present.but feltas Trtprer Ned, that Burling Sharp had ,met a.just-doom. .(Nye,; p. 204) .
/ In addition to frontiersmen andbanditthdrdimenovel tradition is ri cb in deiecti4 and mystery storms. Thei1500 titles in, the-Nick'Carterseries
point to the pogulailty of this crimefighter. Do you ast what manner of Ton
was this great detective; letlfloolvote fromone of the Nick Carter books.
Giants were like children in his gran, Hecouldifell ap ox with.oneipw of his s1:11', compact=fist..Old Sim Carter . had made )le physical velOpment of his sonone, of the studies of his life. Only one oflhe studies, however. Young Nick's mind was stored with knoWledie Itpwledge-ofie peculiar sort, His grey eye had,. like,an-Indian's,'beentrained-to take in minutest' details fresh fot\use, His rich full voice couldrun the gamut of soundsi-fronian old woman's broken, querulouS squeak to th eep, hoarse notes of.a burly ruffian. And his handsome T e , in an ipkitaq, be distorted' intoany one oira huedd-types of unrettgarable ugliness. He was the 9 mAter ofdisguise and could so transforffi himselfso that 'even old Sim could not recognize him. And his intellect, _ . naturally keen as a razor blade, hadbeen incredibly sharpened by the judicious cultivation of theastute old (Nye 0 208 -209) , - . -
' Students are anxious to'update this hero by describinga character they are more . familiar with 1! a charactwho,it-ifaster,thana speeding bullet, more powerful
( q SEkIES BOOKS/12
.vk7f7iiian iliocomotixe,.ableto leap tall. buildings at , a- single bound and Om,
, described as Clark,Kenti . a mild mannereCreporter fora great metropolitan
newspaper fights a never ending'battle for"truth,-justice,:and the AmAican way." This dime novel/Somit book connection is certainlyan exciting .one to consider . . . but obe outside the confinesof this particular unit. . . . , Inv riably during sttidejmterch into,the dime novels;someone discovers .11/4 that while the dime novels were being read by adolescents,publishing houses were beginning to churn out bloot for 'a ju;lenile market. The di's-
covery brings us face. to .face With the king of juvenile fictionin the later hilf f'42
of the 1800's tio Alger.
During 04s lifetime, Alger authored over 120 book's: If nothing else, that
.Means that are enough Alger books around .. ,so that everyone. class gets - , . '-. to read one.' -Theserags- to riches stories allow _ a teacher to bring alive that . . . ..- period of American history in which the Alger booksare set.-;Adolescents well r-' indoctrinated into today's'world of competition and cynicismare happy to point put the loopholes in the-rags to riches Alger plots thattake the poor -btit honest
boy from poverty, togreat wealth. As students read Work andWin or Do and Dare.
or Sink or Swim or StrugglingUpward, it seems to.me that It's tgtteicher'silf
responsibility ,,to "give the adolescents a feeling for theAlger times.' Mj1lIonare were mide,overnight. Indeed, this was'the era ofGuggenheim, Carnegie, and, . -
. Vanderbilt.-
Certainly .these books were a prOduct of the times in which theywere written,' and while it behooves both teacher and student to examinethe Alger books.in this t historical light, the realmodern day enjoymentcomes when one consider style and writing quality ofsAlger, the prolific Harvard graduate. Tim Thatcher is a typical Alger,characier.
* 'Is supper ready, mother?, I'm hungryas a bear.' The speaker was a study boy of sixteen, with brighteyes and a' smiling, sunburned face.. His shirt s -vet rere'rolledup, ditplaying a pair of muscular arms. H s hands were brown andsoiled with
,14 / '1 SERIES BOO
. labor. %aristocrat.It' was clear that hewas 0 white handed young His clothes alonLwould have-Shown that.They / were of course, ddrable cloth, made without any' special re-: gard for.the prevailing fashion, Tom That4her, for that.was his hame,Aad justcome home f thi shoe factory, where hewas /employed ten hours a day pegging,shoes, for the lucrattive sum of:fiftycents a d el mays will state.here he the hero of my story an r hope that none of my-readers/will thinkany the worse f .him for working in a Shoe Opp. Tom; having a alittle'sisterAo suoport,icould not choose hise t.'
(Nye, pp.' 63-64) .
!. -:-Contemporari students who read d view, so much that sexually exPlikWare.- ,
. incredulous when they find that in allthe Algerbooks, here is only one kiss and' . .
that further, -when-Alger did 'writea book abdut a.girl he had her fall in love , . / with a very respectable ydungman but before A/ger vr9ote himself into a dangehovs
situation, he sent theyoung man off to Africa as a/missionary for thirteen years:
There are two figpl points 1'4 like tomake on Alger. Studehts find him
an interestingl.phiracter and often someone will road a biography of this man. I
srecommend such a step foeteachers and students.'His life is one filled with
incredible saddnesS and twtsts offate_similar the plot lines in his own
books. Reading his biography allows both the behind the books and the his-,
torical background of the tines to come.aTiv Secondly, II study of Alger brings . 4 the wheel full circle and connectsus once ain with Nancy Drew'and the Hardy,
, . . , ...... The connection that ties Horatio Algerand the current series books together
is Edward StratemeYer.. Stratemeyerhad t011earn his trade of juvenile series . [ writing from sorneone. andone of those teachers was Alger himself. In fact, when if . ,
Alger died, Stratemeyer "completed from notesthe last eleven to eighteen Alger
books." (Donelson, 1977). This Alger/Stratemeyer connectionseems to be a (...... --
- classic case of the Student learning from theteacher and 'then becoming far more-
successful than the teacher. , The topic of Sticcest bringsme back to Shaun Cassidy:' Little does this r `superstar know that much ofhis success he owes to .the likes of,BanditBurling
Sharp, Nick,Carter, DeaCiWood Dick, RattlesnakeNed, Horatio Aber, Edward Stratemeyer, 15 c I . .,. SERIES BOOKS/14 ... .,,-- ., . .,. 1 ,...... and liar#tet Adams. All of these Tealqr fictitious people played ... a major part
- . - fifihe creation of.kancy Orbw and-thlryardy Boys.,In turn, these series books
have,provided many readers with hours and weeksof thoroughlyenjoyable reading. For manY'readers, thispnconsaous Delightjtage-of seriesbook-reading taught . .youngsteii the,most important lesson of all there's somethingexciting to be . found between the Lovers of a book. Perhaps all of us owe theseseries books , _ and authors a bit of 4gratitucle.. %. -
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REFERENCES
Donelson, Ken. "Nancy, Tom, and AssOrted Friendsb The Stratemeyer 'Syndicate
i Then and Now." A speech-presented at the University of icspa, 1976. - --. a
, Mason, Bobbie, Ann, The Girl Sleuth: A Feminist Guide. oicl Westbury, New York:
Feminist Press, 1975. .
McFarlane, Leslie. Ghost of the Hardy Boys:_ AnAutobiogVaphy. New -York:
Two Continents, 1976. 4.
. 0 , McKenzie, Joanna V. "A Survey of LeisureTim ia Reading of Adoletcents." Arizona English Bulletin, Vol. 18, No 3 (Apri1 1976), pp. 13-22.1
. / =-Nlye,-Rustel. The Unembarassed Muse: ThePopular Artsin America. New Yorkl' ** UiaA, 1970.
SChwart;, Alvin. Witcracks Akes and.Jests froi American Folklore. Philadelphia; Lippjncott, 1973..0.
tickerman, Ed. "The Great FlaiNdy Boys' Whodunit." Rolling Stone, September 1976.
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